Important Things
by Shadowsong1
Summary: Takes place after The Boiling Rock. Major spoilers follow. I will state right out that I have very little idea where this is going, so title and rating are tentative. Feel free to suggest things to me. I may or may not implement them. Please enjoy.
1. Chapter 1

**Important Things**

**Disclaimer: **All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The plot is the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

**Authors' Note:** This story takes place after _The Boiling Rock_. Major spoilers are in here. I will state right out that I have very little idea where this is going, so title and rating are tentative. Feel free to suggest things to me. I may or may not implement them. Please enjoy. Shadowsong

**Chapter 1**

Ty Lee cries at night.

Mai didn't find out for a long time--they were locked up separately, too far away for her to hear the younger girl.

At first, she just kept to her own cell and pretended not to care. They only let her out once a day, anyway, to tend to nature's needs, and she was never brought anywhere near Ty Lee's cell, and their brief release times were staggered, to prevent even a glimpse.

She convinced herself she didn't care, even when they stripped her to make sure she didn't take any weapons with her, and pretended she didn't regret dragging Ty Lee down. She never meant to bring Ty Lee down.

Mai didn't regret what she'd done--even if she couldn't forgive Zuko for abandoning her, she knew he thought he was doing the right thing. Hell, maybe he was right. And she couldn't just stand there and watch him die.

She knew he wasn't going to come back for her. She didn't want him to. Because if he came back, it would cheapen her sacrifice, and make it all for nothing. And he owed her better than that. Dammit, he _owed her_.

After a week, she stopped sulking and started worrying. Ty Lee had gone above and beyond for her, the least she could to was find out how she was doing. Make sure she was ok.

When she asked the guards who brought her food and took her on her daily "outings," they said nothing. Frustrated, she started looking for a way to get a message to the younger girl, at the very least. The problem was, she had no pull with which to blackmail and no prize with which to bribe anyone to carry it.

It shouldn't've surprised her that Ty Lee found a way.

The afternoon of the ninth day of their incarceration, the door to her cell opened three hours after her outing. She looked up, surprised and wary and then just surprised when Ty Lee flew into the cell and threw her arms around her.

"What--how did you…?" she stammered out.

"I let one of the guards sleep with me," Ty Lee said, matter-of-fact.

"You didn't have to--"

"It's ok, I've let boys sleep with me for stupider reasons. And I wanted to make sure you were ok."

"I'm fine. You?"

Ty Lee hesitated for a minute. "I've been better," she admitted.

The two girls were silent for a long moment, just relieved to find each other intact. "You didn't have to do that for me," Mai said, abruptly.

"'Course I did," Ty Lee insisted. "Sh-she was going to…I couldn't let her hurt you."

"If you hadn't done that, at least _one_ of us would've come out of this ok."

"That's not good enough."

There's a fierceness in Ty Lee that most people don't see or recognize. Most people see the playful, pretty sprite, and think she's just what she is on the surface: a little dim-witted, but her heart's in the right place.

Mai knew better.

So did Azula.

Ty Lee was smarter than people gave her credit for.

And Ty Lee was _fierce_, when you pushed her far enough.

Apparently, Azula hadn't just miscounted Mai that day, and pushed Ty Lee just a little too far.

Mai nodded. "So what do we do now?"

"I guess we wait. Akio says he'll get me in to see you at least once a day, if I keep sleeping with him. He even said he'd try to get us put closer together."

"That'd be nice," Mai agreed.

"And from there…"

"We take it one step at a time."

The guard who'd brought Ty Lee--probably Akio--tapped on the door and told her it was time to go. After another quick hug, the acrobat slipped out, leaving Mai alone with her thoughts.

Ty Lee had gotten them this far. It was up to Mai to plot the next step.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: **All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The plot is the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

**Chapter 2**

Mai doesn't regret throwing everything away for a broken love affair.

Akio saw the lack of appropriate contrition in her eyes when he snuck the younger girl into see her.

He knew the story, of course, had been told the basics when he was assigned to the two young prisoners, and Ty Lee had filled in the details when they'd started sleeping together.

And, spirits, wasn't _that_ a mess he probably should have avoided.

It wasn't that he was unsatisfied. Far from it. And it wasn't that he felt a little awkward and afraid about the whole thing--particularly after he managed to get Ty Lee transferred to the cell next to Mai. It was more that…well, it was all getting to be rather too much, and he was getting to look forward to his stolen liasons with the younger girl than was really safe or appropriate.

He rolled off of his young…well, lover wasn't exactly the right word for it. Lover implied at least some level of mutual affection or attraction, and, as attentive, willing, and energetic as Ty Lee was, the circumstances under which she'd offered herself to him precluded giving that name to their relationship.

"Something wrong?" she asked, half sitting up to examine the look on his face with no care for how the blanket slid down and exposed her.

"No, nothing's wrong."

"You seem upset."

"Just thinking."

"About what?"

"You."

"Good," she said, smiling. "'Cause it'd really be annoying if you were thinking about something besides me right after I had sex with you."

He laughed a little. "Yeah, you're right."

There was a moment's silence, then "So?"

"So what?"

"So, what about me were you thinking?"

"Nothing special. Just…a little surprised."

"Surprised?" She frowned, a little confused.

"You're…what, sixteen?"

"I'll be fifteen in the fall."

"Fourteen then. And a noblewoman."

Ty Lee sighed, and played with a hole in the blanket. "I already told you why I'm here."

"No, no, I'm just…you…ah…you weren't a virgin."

"Oh!" She laughed, and even blushed a little. "No, I'm not. Haven't been for ages." She frowned again. "…Is that a problem?"

"No," he assured her. "Actually, it's kind of relief. I'll be in enough trouble when people find out about our…um…"

"Arrangement?"

"Yeah. If it turned out I'd…um…deflowered a noblewoman, even if she's…"

"Disgraced and imprisoned?"

He hadn't wanted to say it. "Yeah."

"Well, don't worry. You won't get in trouble for _that_, at least." She kissed his forehead, providing him an excellent view of her naked bosom.

"…It's just…kind of surprising," he said, when he collected his thoughts again. "I mean, you're a fourteen-year-old noblewoman, and you're not a virgin."

Ty Lee rolled her eyes. "I also ran away and lived with a circus for almost a year. And also, just 'cause most of my class thinks sex is all about procreation--or power--doesn't mean that's _all_ it's about. At least, the way I see it."

"Ok, I'll bite." He propped himself up on one elbow. "What is sex all about?"

She spent a moment collecting her thoughts. "Well, I mean, the way I see it, I have a great body. And I love it. And I like sharing it with other people. And it's fun, too. The sharing. So, why not? I mean, that's not to say that sex isn't at least partway about making babies, or that it's not powerful--'cause it is--but that's not all or even mostly what it's about. It's about loving your body and sharing it with someone. And that's what sex is about for me. What it's always been about for me. It's a way to have fun and share my body with someone who wants to share his body with me. All the rest of it--babies, our deal, whatever--that's just fringe benefits. I mean, I don't have sex to get something. I have sex because I like having sex."

Well, that was a hell of a lot more frank than he expected. A sudden inspiration hit him, and, before he could stop himself, he said, "I think I can get you out of here."

"…Really?" She sat straight up, staring down at him, grinning like an idiot.

"Yeah. Really." He grinned back at her. Couldn't help it. The girl's constant optimism--even in a place like this--was infectious.

"Mai too?"

Here he hesitated. Bringing the other noblewoman along would complicate things, make it much more difficult.

She folded her arms, under her really very magnificent breasts, and said, flatly, "I'm not leaving without her."

"Ok, ok," he said. "Ok, Lady Mai too."

"Yay!" She tackled him, throwing her arms around him. Startled, he fell back onto the bed again.

From there, a repeat of their earlier activity was inevitable.

And the only problem was _how_ to get the two teenaged prisoners out alive.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The plot is the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

**Chapter 3**

Akio didn't plan the escape.

He was the only guard on the hall where Mai and Ty Lee were kept that night, three days after he'd made his decision to break them out, and, rather on the spur of the moment, decided to take advantage of the opportunity. He wasn't ready--_but when will you ever be really _ready_ for this sort of thing?_ he asked himself.

He slipped into Ty Lee's cell, and swore internally to find her sleeping. He shook her awake, gently as he could.

"Wha...?"

"Time to go. Hurry." She nodded, understanding, and stood up to follow him next door to Mai's cell.

The older noblewoman wasn't sleeping; she was sitting curled up on her bed, hugging her knees to her chest, staring at nothing.

"Mai," Ty Lee whispered.

She looked up. "Time?"

"We need to hurry, I don't know how long we have," Akio answered.

The older girl nodded, uncurled herself, and followed the other two out of the prison.

The walk through the building itself was nerve-wrackingly silent. All three of them kept jumping at shadows--but the shadows were all they encountered to make them jump.

Until they reached the prison's outer wall. There they paused for a minute.

"Come with us," Ty Lee whispered, tugging at his sleeve.

Akio hesitated, considering. He _could_ go with them. It would be easy. And he wasn't entirely willing to say goodbye to Ty Lee yet. But if they were caught...

He shook his head. "If one of you could just--"

As if on cue, eight of the other guards found them.

Ty Lee reacted immediately, quickly disabling three of them. Mai hung back a little--she had none of her weapons, and didn't have her friend's near-freakish speed and flexibility to keep her intact fighting armed guards. Akio pressed a knife into her hand--it was heavier than the ones she liked, but it would do. Smiling slightly, she dove into the fray, slipping between two more guards, hamstringing one and trying to avoid the other's sword.

She wasn't as lucky as she'd hoped, judging by the sudden line of pain on her back.

Akio, meanwhile, was showing exactly why he'd been trusted guarding two prisoners of such importance, though he wasn't much older than Mai: with his katana, he was nearly as fast as Ty Lee, and had neatly dispatched three of the remaining guards. Ty Lee quickly disabled the last, and grabbed his and Mai's hands. "Come on!" she said, dragging them to the wall. Together, the three of them ran, ran, ran into the forest, where the darkness between the trees would swallow them before they could be found.


End file.
